By Mark Alexander, CCIM

We are finally seeing signs of recovery in the long-slumping commercial real estate market in southwest Florida. A full recovery will certainly take some time, but recent statistics from Costar show that we bottomed out over 2011 in the three main sectors of commercial real estate in southwest Florida. The market is now showing signs of movement in a positive direction. The period over the last ten years has been one of unprecedented change in the commercial real estate market that is unlikely to be seen again in our children’s lifetimes.

Mike Vogel | Florida Trend

Downtown Fort Lauderdale this year will see a surge of construction — the first of hundreds of apartment units developers have in the works. Apartment projects also are under way in suburban Broward and Palm Beach County.

Sarasota has been busy taking in top honors for categories related to vacationing and retiring. Lots of great information to take in about Sarasota as a destination for relaxation!

Trevor Shirley | Southern Broadcast Corp

First it was the #1 beach in the country, and now Sarasota has been named the top destination for families on spring break.

For information about Sarasota as a spring break destination, click HERE. Or to find out more about Sarasota’s #1 Beach ranking, click HERE.

Another article has Sarasota taking top honors among best places to retire.

See why Florida is ranked #4 in the nation for exporting and why this makes it a great place to do business.

Megan Anderson | Orlando Business Journal

Florida remained the nation’s fourth-largest export state with a record $64.8 billion in origin exports last year, according to Enterprise Florida Inc.

Is a manufacturing rebound in sight? Orlando believes that the small companies will not only bring jobs to Central Florida, but also keep the jobs here as well.

Richard Burnett | Orlando Sentinel

After years of lab work, Dan Rini is finally setting up a factory to make high-tech, air-conditioned uniforms for the military. But unlike many U.S. factories of recent decades, it’s not in China, India or, for that matter, South Carolina or Alabama.

Did the December slow down affect the overall growth of 2011? Read more to find out what happenened with each sector.

Randyl Drummer | CoStar

Powered by continuing gains in apartments and growing momentum in the office sector, the CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale Indices (CCRSI) National Composite Index ended 2011 significantly above its cyclical low last March, despite a relatively flat fourth quarter for pricing.

With the addition of over 1,000 new jobs being created by call centers in Tampa, many question the type of work that is being generated and the impact on the economy. Read this article and decide for yourself.

Elizabeth Behrman | Tampa Bay Times
Tampa has burnished its image as a hub for call center operations with the recent announcements of more than 1,000 new jobs.

With jobs, income, and manufacturing on the rise, Florida’s economy seems to be gearing up for a strong quarter.

Lucia Mutikani | Sun Sentinel

A few months ago economists were all but certain the U.S. economy would slow sharply at the start of this year, with many warning that recession risks were growing.

Does a new year mean new optimism among lenders? Read this article to see what what is being seen in the lending market.

Beth Mattson | National Real Estate Investor

The volume of multifamily and commercial real estate lending is a far cry from the frothy days of 2005 through 2007. Yet the flow of capital is growing and both borrowers and lenders are optimistic that financing will continue to improve in 2012.

With factors starting to point towards a recovery, read more about the impact on net leases.

Jonathan Hipp | GlobeSt

Even though triple net leases and direct investments in real estate, as well as REITs, were affected by the 2007 recession, REITs and corporate stocks took a much bigger hit while having generated less return in the years prior to the economic downturn.